Then me and Eric left the venue once.

　I was scolded by Dad Nord and Mother Erna, and Eric was eating a fistful of fists from his stubborn father.

　If you're wondering why he did that, it was because he made fun of the Slowlet territory! It's a little different from the reason for caring for the territory as "I don't know what to do with my body....

　would be more fitting. Of course, I was pissed off at being ridiculed because the Colliat Village in the Slowlet territory is the best, though, right?

　But we're fighting?　It's not a good idea to let them leave as they did, so they are strictly told to make up to each other and stay quiet.

　I don't know what they'll do next time I wake up.

　Father Nord said something fussy about bringing Elinora here or something.

　Maybe this is really the last thing we need.

　That seemed to be the same for Eric, and there was some screaming and desperate words of explanation.

　The Silford family seems to be a knight's family, and their education is strict in many ways.....

　I want to question for an hour how such a person was born from such a knight's family.

　And while the other aristocrats are looking at us white knuckleheads, we're still in good company on the edge.

　It's dangerous if you don't stay calm.

　I'd like to ask Eric's father if he was going to be a knight. And he asked me if I was interested.

　When I strongly denied it, he looked disappointed and said something about coming to Silford territory if you're interested.

　It must be a trivial thing because Eric's expression was gloating at that time.

　Maybe they'll invite me to practice or something.

　I definitely don't want to.

'Oh, my eyes still flicker.'

　Eric moans as he rubs his arms over his eyes.

'There's a lot of chandeliers in this hall,'

You know what you've done.

Well, don't be so sure. Let's just have a friendly meal in here, okay? No fighting, of course.

Of course. I'm the reason I had to leave without ten men because of you. I don't know what I'll do if I cause any more trouble.

　A ten-man-less is a guy who can't finish a one-on-one bout without taking on ten people in a row. Eric blurted out that he would be cotenanced at the end.

　What a Spartan. If you don't mind, could you take my sister with you?

　Sighing, he reached for the ingredients.

　Meat meat meat. This guy never learns, either.

'Eric, you should eat your vegetables too.

Shut up. Don't sound like my mom. I don't like vegetables. They're green.

　That's a kid!　I mean, we were kids.

'Then put this on and eat it. What do you think of this?

Hmm?　What's with the yellow sauce?　Do you have a source for that?

Here it is. Here, pretend you're being tricked and try this lettuce. I don't use this plate.

　Eric receives a plate of lettuce with mayonnaise on it, stinking of it. He doesn't seem to like the vegetables, but he's interested in the mayonnaise.

　He pokes at the mayonnaise with his fork.

　Then he stabs the lettuce with his fork and crunches it fearfully into his mouth.

　And Eric's eyes widened with a snap.

''........what is this delicious sauce.......I can eat as many vegetables as I want with this. I mean, I don't need any vegetables. This sauce alone will do the trick!

　Eric says, shaking his shoulders.

　A mayor has been born here and now.

　I gobble it up and Eric comes over and asks me for another.

There's some around the table. Go find it.

Do you not remember where it was?　You are useless. I'll find him!　I saw that sauce as a great all-around sauce for every dish!

　Thus, Eric happily set out on a journey to find a mayonnaise that wasn't supposed to be there.



　× x x x



Hey, Al, good to see you, man. Great to see you back at the party, son.

　As I was lazing on the terrace where I could look out over the garden, I heard a loud, familiar voice.

'Ah, it's been a while. Count Merna.

　Count Merna is dressed in a red suit with a glass of wine in one hand.

　His trousers are also red, and his whole body is red, but it looks surprisingly good on him.

　The occasional glimpse of black accentuates the red color.

　It's a little late in the day, since we played together at the harvest festival, but we have to be polite to each other.

　I bow my head politely.

'Come on. You don't need to be polite to me when you're on the edge. But I've heard more than that, haven't I?　I heard you and that guy from Silford got into it right away, didn't you?

'No, well, I don't know who's watching. More importantly, what's the quickest way to........

　Rude. Then it's like you're assuming I'm going to do something for sure.

''Well, it's common every year for proud nobles to do something akin to a fight.

　I don't know if he couldn't stand it anymore, but he was almost laughing and talking at the end.

　If this was Thor, I would want to pull him off and push him off this terrace, but there's no way I could do that to Count-sama partner.

　Or rather, this time I clearly did something stupid, so there's no way to deny it.

''........I just heard something about pushing me off the terrace or something.......''

So, Count Merna, what can I do for you?

'You're deceiving me but, well, I have a partner I'd like to introduce to you today.

　Count Merna stared at me with half-lidded eyes and invited one of the men to join us.

　The man was dressed in a well-tailored, tailor-made suit.

　It really matched his serene appearance.

　The chovy beard on the bottom of his nose gave him an indescribable sense of familiarity.

''This is Duke Vladie, the wife of Viscount Yulina, who is also the father of Miss Linaria,''

　What?　Who is Viscount Yulina?　Oh, since Mr. Linaria is Mrs.......Lorena.

'Nice to meet you. I'm Duke Lau-Wladimir. My daughter, Linaria, has told me about you, hasn't she?

　The Duke of Vlad, in a sullen voice, lightly bows to me. I hurriedly bow my head as well.

　Vladimir-san says that he heard Linaria-san talking happily about what happened at the harvest festival and her stay at our mansion, and he came to greet us.

　It looks like she's already finished greeting Nord Dad and came towards me.

　How very gracious of him to come to such a child.

I've heard about it. I heard that Alfried made that trendy reversal. I didn't know about it until my daughter told me. It's always a pleasure to hear from you.

Oh, no. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Hmm, looking at it this way, you don't look like someone who would fight with tongs, nor do I get the impression that you're an eccentric person.

Right?　He's the kind of guy who does it casually, with this ecstatic look on his face.

　Hey, what's this ecstatic look on your face? I think Count Merna is a bit rude today.

　If the frames are sold, I'll just stop at Count Merna's place.

'This is an exaggeration. He is the inventor of such a wonderful game.

"Duke Vlad is a good man. I'll be the first to deliver the next game or piece of equipment when it's finished.

Hey, Al?　You can't give it to me?

Are you sure?　Thank you. There's been a lot going on lately, and I'm looking forward to spending time with my daughters playing reversi and chess with them.

　The Duke of Wladimir smiles with a slightly shadowy expression. He looks a little unwell.

''Is something troubling you, sir?

Hey, Al-Kuun?　Do you hear me?

''Well actually I have a lot of daughters. There's nothing wrong with that, as long as you have that many daughters, you'll have a good connection with the rest of the family. Aren't you proud of the fact that all my daughters are lovely--

　Long. It's very long when he talks about his daughter.

　He never stops talking about it. It's already called being a parental idiot.

　Merna said she was going to call the wife of the Duke of Wolsey and went away.

　This left me to listen to the conversation alone.

　According to Vladie-san, there are an unusually large number of noblemen who bring marriage proposals anyway.

　If you are a duke, it's not that strange.


　If they could have a connection with the duke's family, they would all be desperate to make a marriage proposal.

　That is to say, there are too many matchmaking opportunities.

　Well, that must be a hardship for the Duke.

Why do I only get marriage proposals from my daughter? And why do we get so many offers from middle-aged people? Are age-gap marriages like Linaria's are the rage?

　Duke Vladimir's words seemed to be getting more and more depressing as he gradually entered into a whirlpool of questions.

　Someone stop him and raise him up.

　Just as he was thinking this, a voice came.

''You. Alfried-kun is in trouble.''

　I wondered if Count Merna had brought his wife with him. When I thought so and turned around, there was a pretty girl with long brown hair that reached her waist.

　She was dressed in a pink dress with a large flower sewn on her lower body, which perfectly complemented her cuteness.

　What is this, Duke Vlad's daughter?

　If you still want to stop the duke, I don't mind.

　I can't wait for you to release me.

"Oh, Noel. "Oh, Noel, I'm sorry, Alfried. I didn't mean to interrupt myself. I want you to meet my wife, Noel.

　Huh?　His wife?　You don't look like your daughter, do you?

Nice to meet you, Mr. Alfried. Mr. Alfried. I'm Noel-Urazee.

　Not caring about my confusion, Noel-san stepped forward and grabbed the hem of her dress and politely thanked me.

　With the same innocent smile as Linaria-san.

　''Duke Vlad. Why do you ask why do you get an unusual amount of matchmaking in your house?　

　That's because there are a lot of gentlemen "pedophiles" in this Misfirito Kingdom.



　× X X X



　When I walked back near the food tables in the hall, Eric grabbed at me with great speed.

'Hey you!　I can't find the source of your earlier source anywhere!　What the hell is going on here!

'Oh, the mayonnaise is already the sauce I brought with me, so it's not here.

　I reply with a peck at the hand that grabs me.

'What good!　Hey, give me that sauce!

It's gone!

'Then it's in the house?　Give it to me!

　Eric is still hooked on it. Yeah, you are such a pain in the ass!

No!　I wouldn't have any mayonnaise to give you if I had it!

You!　You have one, right?　You were touching your pockets when you offered me the mayonnaise!　It's there, isn't it?　Give it to me!

　Eric shoves his hand into my pocket as if to say, "I'm sorry. He touches me in a floppy manner and makes me feel uncomfortable. Who enjoys having a man go through their pockets?

'Nah, I don't. I mean, do you ever think about buying it?　You're trying to rip off my clothes, you're a bandit!

　My chastity might be at stake. Eric tries to rip off my jacket, and I wrestle with him, trying to prevent him from doing so.

　Someone comes up to me in this unseemly and unpleasant situation, which only the rotten ones are happy to see.

"Oh, it's Al!

"Wait, little Ra!　I haven't finished saying hello to all the important people yet!

　It was Ra-chan, a stray he met on his first day in King's Landing.